Truth or Dare?
by James5
Summary: Jack and Juliet sit down for a game of 'Truth or Dare' before parting.


Disclaimer: _Lost, _copyright ABC/Touchstone

**Truth or Dare  
**By James

* * *

There were days in which coming home was a rather pleasant, quiet experience...and then there were days like today. The sight of her front door came rushing up much faster than usual, the sound of her breathing was much heavier than it would normally be, and the touch of the keys came at a far more frantic pace as she sorted one out from another. 

Juliet turned around, looking at the reason all this was happening. Behind her stood Jack in his usual cut T-shirt and jeans, also panting, glancing backwards to make sure they weren't being followed.

The story wasn't a very long one. He had escaped from captivity while she wasn't present and injured someone in the process. He was now being chased by the angry friends of the man he'd hurt. Juliet had heard about what was going on, along with how much pain Jack was in for once they'd found him. She'd headed off to find him first, and had managed to do so in the jungle. She informed him that he'd need to stay in hiding until a certain time tomorrow, when she could show him the dock that would lead him back to his own island. Jack had been reluctant to follow her, but the sound of his pursuers nearby didn't leave him much choice.

Finally, Juliet got the door open, and locked it behind them both after they'd entered.

With his mouth still open as he constantly exhaled, Jack began looking around. He'd already been in awe upon seeing this area outside, but it was the inside that struck him most. The hatch, as he and his friends called it, was fascinating, but seeing a modern home above land here... It got him wondering just what these islands didn't have.

She caught her breath. "Have...have a seat," she said, stepping out of the room.

Jack hesitated, then walked over to the couch and sat. He thought he heard her voice, faint and unclear, in the process of what was happening next: sitting turned to leaning back, leaning back turned to resting, and soon enough, resting turned to sleep.

* * *

Two things were there when Jack woke up. The first was a blanket, tucked around him with what appeared to be some care. The second was the sound of water -- not of the overwhelming variety, but simply coming from a shower. With a few blinks, Jack sat himself up and tugged the blanket away. He eyed his surroundings again. It had gotten dark outside. A dim orange glow filled the room now. There was a rug and a coffee table in front of the couch, and a dining table had been moved not far behind it. He began replaying the earlier situation in his mind, taking a few seconds to lean down and let his head rest in one of his hands. 

The steady sound was still there. It began to sink in just what Juliet was doing at the moment. Jack tried not to think about it. Slowly, the water came to a stop, and for some reason, he felt a slight tension rise within.

Moments later he heard the bathroom door open behind him.

"Jack?"

He sat up straight, but didn't quite turn around. "Yeah?" he said as politely as he felt like managing.

"You okay?"

"...Fine. Thanks."

He heard her coming forth. Juliet walked around the left end of the couch, opposite of the side Jack was on, wearing only a robe; her hair was down.

Jack glanced at her...then found himself quietly looking away.

She watched him with a calm grin, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Thanks...for what you did," said Jack, still looking down. "I..." He stood and turned, taking a few steps away from her, standing with his hands on his hips. "The dock you mentioned...you really think it'll be safe?"

"It will." She slowly eased herself down on the rug and sat cross-legged. "I've been thinking about how we might pass time until then."

Jack watched the wall with a somewhat defensive glance.

"Why don't you come and sit for a little while?"

He turned around, seeing her. "...Why?"

"Because I'm going to give you something you've wanted since we met."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

Juliet continued, not sure when or if she'd see him again after tomorrow. "I'm going to give you answers." She went on to explain the game she wanted to play.

"Truth or Dare?" As usual, Jack's tone was condescending upon hearing a suggestion he didn't quite agree with.

"Mm hmm," she nodded.

"I'm..." he began shaking his head, "I'm not really one for games."

She stared at him.

After a while, the silence got Jack curious enough to look back.

She smiled, and repeated herself. "Come. Sit."

Jack watched her for several seconds, glanced down a moment, and then found himself walking over to do as she said. He got on the floor and sat with his back against the couch, facing the front wall while Juliet faced him.

"Why don't you start?" she offered.

Already, it felt like they'd begun some sort of competition, and already, it felt like he was losing, due to her relaxed tone. The fighter in Jack resented this feeling; there was a part of him -- a part born on school playgrounds -- that automatically wanted to go on the offensive when challenged. But there was another part, a cautionary side, that wanted to get up, call the whole thing off, and dismiss it as silly. Indeed, he almost managed to do this. However, it seemed that there was a part of Juliet that was even stronger -- something in her grin, something in her gaze that pulled at him, engaged him, held him in place. It was the same thing that was there the day he first met her, when he found himself reluctantly answering questions.

Jack stayed put, figuring that if this was indeed a competition, there had to be a way to gain the upper hand. Of course, it didn't look like it was going to be easy. He could see it in her smile, her posture. She was ready for anything. Juliet's smirk lied somewhere between confidence and arrogance, much like the moment in which she'd introduced herself.

...And speaking of that.

"Okay," Jack cleared his throat and gave her a calm look with his usual hint of defiance, tilting his head a tad sideways. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said, eyes briefly closing as she grinned. There was a part of her that wanted to chuckle at him.

"Is Juliet your real name?" Jack's thoughts had naturally recalled a certain someone else as he asked this.

Her smile widened a bit at his curiosity. "Yes," she nodded.

Jack stared...then slowly looked down at the rug. "Guess it'd be your turn."

She shifted a little, remaining in her cross-legged state. "Truth or dare, Jack?" she said quietly.

For just a moment, he had to look up at her before he could give the answer he was about to. "...Truth," he said, after admiring the pattern on her rug a little longer.

Juliet's smile lessened. "Who do you miss most from your island?"

Jack's lips parted, his eyebrows rose for a second. This was one he definitely wasn't going to enjoy.

Like a dove, Juliet was calm and quiet.

"I..." Jack cleared his throat again. "...I..."

"You don't have to answer if you don't--"

"No, no, it's..." the competitor in Jack began rising again. He looked up at her with a touch of boldness, as if to let her know that he'd not only answer the question, but wasn't afraid to. There was a moment in which he wondered if it was indeed Juliet he was informing of this...

She waited.

"Kate," he glanced away.

Step One in overcoming an issue: Admitting that it exists. Jack knew he needed to come to terms with the fact that Kate had feelings for someone else, and he knew he needed to begin letting go of his own feelings. That was a path that began with confronting them. However, just because something needed to be done didn't mean that one would always enjoy doing it, and Jack was almost wishing he'd just said "dare" instead.

Then a quick awareness overtook him; he could hear Juliet quietly speaking his name. Jack shook his head and looked her way again.

"It's your turn," she said softly.

Jack's head gently swung away once more. For some reason, he was finding it a little hard to engage her directly, he seemed to be growing a tad uncomfortable. To deal with this, he initiated Step One again...and then his curiosity was piqued once more. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Jack looked straight up and asked Juliet a question. "What are you afraid of?"

"What?"

Juliet was one of the calmest, most collected people he'd met. He wondered just what could change that. "What are you afraid of? What makes you tense?"

Another smile began to form. She closed her eyes, then opened them and nodded. "Spiders."

"Really?" A rhetorical question.

"Really." She answered anyway.

Jack pulled one of his knees up, resting a hand over it. After a pause, he lazily waved his fingers. "Your turn then."

Juliet began wearing the same steady smirk she'd displayed while showing him the video that day in the Hydra.

It began to make Jack uneasy, and he again gazed elsewhere, wondering why she was doing it.

"Truth or dare?"

Not in the mood for another truth along the same lines as before, Jack opted for the dare. It would take him a little while to figure out that Juliet was about two steps ahead of him on this.

She reached over to the coffee table, and extended a small cup. "All right..." she said with an air of confidence, "...drink this tea."

Jack froze -- except for his eyes, which were slowly moving between the cup and the woman holding it.

Juliet's gaze was the same, one hand extending the cup while the other gently clutched one of her feet.

She hadn't spoken a single question this time, but Jack was now asking himself several. What was in the tea? What would happen if he drank it? What would she have to gain by hurting him?

As usual, Juliet looked like she had all the time in the world.

It dawned on Jack that Juliet had never had to help him in the first place, that if she wanted him hurt, she could've just let him be found by those who were in pursuit earlier. Slowly, Jack extended his arm, paused, and then took the cup. He looked down into the tea, trying to see if anything out of the ordinary could somehow be spotted. He remembered a certain sentence that was once directed at him, words about a leap of faith.

With a bit more reservation, Jack lifted the cup to his mouth...and sipped the tea. About halfway through, he sat it down on his end of the table, looking off quietly as though waiting for something.

"A truth and a dare," said Juliet.

Jack looked at her. "...Pardon?"

She gave a casual nod. "That was my way of combining both. I dared you to do something while asking a question at the same time."

Jack wore a suspicious look. "What question?" He already had an idea.

"Whether or not you trust me."

Jack was quiet.

So was Juliet.

He lowered his eyes and lifted his eyebrows. "Well..." he said with a hint of resentment, "I guess you're satisfied now."

"No," she shook her head calmly, "no, not quite. You still don't trust me. If you did you wouldn't have hesitated."

Jack's heavy stare slowly rose.

" 'Satisfied' doesn't really describe it," Juliet ran a hand through her hair. "I have an answer...just not the one I was hoping for."

Jack again averted his gaze.

Juliet wore a patient smile. "Your turn."

Jack spoke rather quickly, as though a little annoyed. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

He was shaking his head a bit as he asked the question. "How did you end up on this island?"

She held her smile up, though it seemed somewhat less vibrant than a moment ago, like she'd forgotten to take it down while something inside had changed. "...Through the Dharma Initiative."

"Well I know that part, but what I meant was...I mean..."

"One question per turn," she grinned.

"I...fine," Jack chuckled.

Juliet crooked her head upon hearing him laugh, lifting her eyebrows with a wider grin. It was as though her expression had said "got you," or something similar.

Becoming aware of this, a tense Jack straightened up and changed his posture, going serious again.

"Truth or dare?" spoke Juliet.

"...Truth." Jack looked her way.

"Why are you nervous right now?"

"...I..." He trailed off, tensely glancing at her face, then elsewhere, staring at something...

She waited.

"Juliet," he said softly, "don't panic, but stand up. Stay calm. There's a spider crawling behind you."

She quickly moved her gaze in the direction he'd mentioned, and that was when Jack learned that she certainly wasn't making up what she'd said earlier. Juliet quickly stood and moved, dashing past Jack and onto a nearby chair, which she used to climb up on her dining table. She stood, having to readjust her robe as it nearly came undone.

Seconds later, a stomp was heard. Jack turned and looked up at her.

"Did you get it?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah," said Jack in a casual, manly tone. "I got it."

"Are you certain it's dead?"

"Why don't you come down from the table and see?"

Juliet's eyes began searching the floor, unable to spot what she was trying to from where she stood.

Jack sat up on one of the sofa's arms. "Come down from the table. It's okay."

She was still unsure.

"I mean, you talk to me about trust, right?"

She threw him one more glance, then slowly made her way down, seeing the smashed spider.

Five minutes later, Jack and Juliet were back in place on the floor.

"I, um..." he hesitated, "I suppose you can ask whatever you were going to now."

She looked a little confused.

"You were interrupted before."

"Actually, I already asked the question. Did you forget it?"

"No, I mean...when I started staring behind you, you asked me why I seemed nervous," Jack insisted. "Now you know why I did, so...what was your question going to be?"

Jack was deluding himself, and unfortunately for him, he wasn't the only one who knew it. Juliet smiled calmly. "I asked you why you seemed nervous before you started staring, not after."

He looked away.

"I asked why you constantly turn away from me like that...I asked why you tend to do it when I smile."

Jack was getting this feeling he recognized, the feeling that always turned up whenever he blushed. He slowly moved a hand over his mouth, fingers casually stretching to hide his face.

As usual, Juliet's gaze hadn't gone anywhere.

After a long, quiet moment, Jack finally had an answer. "I don't know," he shook his head.

She eyed him a bit longer. "...Okay." What she'd just said did not reflect what she really felt. "Your turn."

Jack spoke just above a whisper. "Truth or dare?"

Juliet began cautiously looking around the floor. "Truth."

He could sense her discomfort. After a few seconds, Jack chuckled. "Where did you learn how to hit?"

Juliet giggled.

Jack couldn't quite wipe the smile from his face yet, though he was indeed trying.

"Dharma training."

"Right..." he nodded slowly. "Your turn."

"Truth or dare?" said Juliet. She'd begun to eye him with a certain curiosity of her own.

"Truth."

Her expression began to change. Not a playful smile, and not a confident smirk, but something much different now. Juliet was wearing a very warm grin.

Jack was a little caught off-guard.

It felt like much longer than it was, but the pause ended with this question: "When did things change?" she asked.

"...When did what things change?" Jack shook his head.

"There was a time before..." she ran a hand through her hair again, "when I asked if you were trying to make me feel better, and you said that you didn't care about doing so."

Sensing what was coming, shyness overtook Jack once again.

"Just now when you saw me looking at the floor, you could tell I was nervous." She paused. "You asked that question to remind me of a certain strength."

He didn't respond.

"To make me feel better."

Jack was getting really tired of how well Juliet seemed to play this game.

"So...when did things change?" She smiled.

And once again, Jack chose to play it the best way he knew how at the moment. "...I don't know."

Juliet briefly lifted her eyebrows, nodding to herself. "...Your turn."

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Now came the one he'd been wondering for a while, the one he wasn't sure he'd ever get around to asking. Not knowing when he'd get the opportunity again, he made a choice: he'd go through with it. Not knowing just how to ask it sensitively, he made another choice: he'd just ask as plainly as possible. Jack adjusted his position slightly, looked up...and stared her deeply in the eyes. "What happened to your desire to help people?"

For the first time, Juliet looked not just withdrawn, and not just confused...but utterly stunned.

Jack was the one waiting now.

"What are you talking about?"

"Most people who become doctors have at least one thing in mind: helping others."

Juliet was watching him with a bit of tension in her gaze.

"If it's really possible for all of you to leave the island, to, you know, to reach the outside world," Jack gestured behind him, "then why are you still here, Juliet?"

She was silent.

"Why aren't you out there, lending your skills, like you trained to do?"

More silence.

"...What happened to you?"

Juliet slowly faced the rug.

Jack stared at her.

She, now, was barely speaking above a whisper. "Before your plane crashed...something..." She trailed off, beginning to shake her head.

After watching her for a while, Jack looked down.

"Something indeed did happen...and after that...I lost my drive to help people. I didn't want to anymore until..."

Jack kept looking away.

Juliet reached a quiet epiphany. "Until you came along."

Jack faced her.

She wasn't looking back.

He didn't know what to say.

"Truth or dare?" She said it calmly.

Jack didn't think he was ready to hear whatever her next question might be, and didn't want to answer with "I don't know" again. He chose the dare. However, no words followed. There was a dare, but not a spoken one. A surprised expression crossed his face.

Juliet again extended her hand, but there was nothing in it this time; just her palm. She wasn't offering a cup. She wasn't offering tea. So it became a question of What was she offering?

Jack wasn't sure, and even she wasn't sure, but she was daring him, perhaps daring them both, to find out.

She held her bare palm out, and Jack looked it over, his eyes moving up to hers. Slowly, Jack's hand extended, and was held in Juliet's. It was an interesting feeling for them both. They'd each touched someone's hand before, of course, and even each other's on one other brief occasion, but still...there was something about this. It was hard for each to describe. It felt new, fascinating, unexpected. Eventually they'd both realize that the word they were looking for was _nice_.

Juliet stared closely. "It's your turn, Jack."

A rare gentleness was present on Jack's face, a look that wasn't edgy or curious, but rather peaceful. This was reflected in his voice. "Truth or dare?"

Juliet nodded. "Truth."

Jack had forgotten to stop holding her hand. "Why are you helping me?"

Juliet blinked, watching him very calmly. "Because I care about you."

His expression mirrored hers. Again, Jack wasn't sure what to say.

"Truth or dare?" spoke Juliet.

"...Dare."

She leaned a bit closer. "When I fall asleep...don't run off anywhere."

Jack averted his gaze downward.

"Can I trust you on that, Jack?"

Several seconds passed, and slowly...Jack nodded.

One of her thumbs stroked his hand, and their grips parted. With her robe fluttering, Juliet stood, looking down at him. Jack remained in his position, eyes cast on the floor.

Moments later, Jack was in the room alone, sitting on the couch again. The smell of muffins began to fill the home.

* * *

Morning came, and he woke up to the sound of her voice, gently calling his name. 

"It's time," said Juliet. She was now wearing a pink shirt and jeans.

He blinked, pausing for a few seconds.

Jack and Juliet's faces were very close.

She pulled up, walking towards the door. "You'll make it safely; I've checked." She stood still with her arms crossed.

Just over her shoulder, Jack rose. "...Thank you."

Juliet kept looking away. "I suppose this, then, would be good-b..." she glanced down, stopping herself.

Jack slowly looked down as well.

Silence filled the room.

"...Look, Juliet," he said quietly. "Before I met you, my opinion of the...'the Others' was...well..."

She turned around.

Jack chuckled. "Let's just say they were the type of people who, after I met them once, I never wanted to meet again."

Juliet grinned.

"But you..."

She waited. "But me...?"

"You..." Jack again didn't know what to say.

She remained still, more silence passing. "Jack..." she said above a whisper, "you think we'll ever see each other again?"

Jack waited before answering, deciding he didn't want to give her false hope. No...it dawned on him that it wasn't just Juliet he was trying to avoid giving false hope to, not just her at all...

Jack watched her, then reached down and pulled a cup off the coffee table, the same one he'd drank from last night. And then, Jack lifted the cup to his lips, and without hesitation, finished the rest of the tea she'd given him, looking Juliet straight in the eye the whole time.

She grinned, turning to open her door, waiting as he sat the cup down and walked over.

Together, Jack and Juliet walked out side by side, their forms becoming slow silhouettes in the sunlight.

THE END


End file.
